That is applique tho' and very nice it is too ... much better for anything with soft curves.
Print a good pic out on several pieces of paper and cut out the separate pieces ... Body, wings, eyes etc
Trace round those on yet more paper ... freezer paper would be good here or the double sided fusi stuff (which I can not for the life of me remember the name of at the moment) ...
Think how you will be building the owl back up and add a margin to any pieces that will be underneath another one.
Pretty simple really ... looking forward to seeing your process and of course, the end result.